ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries November 1 9 9 0 1 981 conferences in th e sequence had no num ber, p ro ­ vide a list o f th e conferences, w ith title, nam e o f conference (if different), and date and w here held, so th a t related conferences can be referred to or linked through cross references. I f conferences are num bered, and th e p ro ceed ­ ings o f a particular conference are not published, provide th a t inform ation in a later volume. N u m b er th e pages consecutively, if possible. “V o lu m e” an d “e d itio n ” have very specific meanings In libraries. “Volum e 2,” e.g., should not be used for th e proceedings o f th e second confer­ ence in a sequence. “V olum e” should be used only if th e proceedings o f a particular conference are published in two or m ore physical volumes. A statem ent th a t calls som ething a “second edition” should refer to th e same text rew orked or reset, not to totally new text. Proceedings o f a second confer­ ence w ould not, therefore, b e eith er a “second edition” or a “volum e tw o” o f th e first conference. Although librarians are am ong th e prim ary col­ lectors o f conference proceedings, catalog records for these proceedings appear in m achine-readable databases which make th e inform ation available to millions o f library users. P ro p er access to these proceedings makes th em m ore valuable to the scientific, academic, and business com m unities. W ith th e help o f those who p rep are and publish conference proceedings library users will be able to locate and use those proceedings m ore efficiently. The 19 9 0 Annual Conference of German Librarians By Siegfried Feller C h ie f Bibliographer University o f M assachusetts Expectations and speculation in the Saarland. TJH L h e 80th co n feren ce o f G erm an [Aca- dem ic/R esearch] Librarians (Bibliothekartag) was held June 5-8, in Saarbrücken, capital o f th e Saar­ land, a state adjacent to Luxem bourg and n ear th e F ren ch city o f Metz. T he prim ary host institution was th e University o f Saarland; it lies a few miles outside th e city, b u t is w ell-served by m unicipal buses. All open sessions, except for th e formal o p en in g cerem o n ies, w ere h e ld on cam p u s— mostly in a building n ear th e library. T he V erein D eutsche B ibliothekare (VDB) and th e V e re in d e u t s c h e r D ip lo m -B ib lio th e k a re (VdDB) are th e ch ief sponsors o f each annual conference, and this year, for th e first tim e, th e annual m eeting o f th e G erm an L ibrary Association (D eu tsch er Bibliotheksverband, DBV) was held in conjunction w ith th e Bibliothekartag—th e U.S. analogy w ould be if th e annual ARL m eeting w ere held at th e same place and tim e as ALA Annual C onference. Also participating (for th e second or th ird tim e) was th e Association o f Library Support Staff (B undesverein d e r Bibliothekassistenten/in- nen, BBA). “Libraries in E u ro p e ” was th e th em e o f this year’s conference, and th e new p resid en t o f th e VDB, E n g elb ert Plassman (rector o f th e Profes­ sional School for Librarianship and D ocum enta­ tion, Köln) m ade a considerable effort to attract professional colleagues from o th e r countries. An unusually large percentage o f these visitors deliv­ 982 I C& RL News e re d papers and/or sat on panels at a n u m b e r o f th e sessions. This year m any eastern E u ro p e a n librarians w ere able to a tte n d for th e first tim e. Special funds w ere found to support invited colleagues from th e east, and a collection taken up at th e T hursday m em bership m eeting o f th e VDB yielded a large and w elcom e sup p lem en t to assist th e m any p a r­ ticipants who had no w estern currency for th e ir visit. By next year’s m eeting m ost o f th ese difficul­ ties will have b e e n alleviated, b u t this year many restrictions still existed. Follow ing th e tra d itio n a l p a tte rn , a fte r th e M onday holiday (Pentecost or W hitsun), Tuesday m o rn in g was d ev o ted to executive c o m m itte e m eetings o f th e professional associations, registra­ tion, and th e opening o f th e exhibits, w hich w ere very conveniently situated in th e hallways on th e en tra n ce level o f Building 16, w here m ost sessions took place. In th e afternoon, nine working com m it­ tees m et in closed sessions, and four w ere open to any in terested participants. A 3 1/2-hour session on “L ibrary E ducation and Professional T raining in E u ro p e ” included papers by two G erm an library educators and one from F rance. Following a general m eeting o f th e DBV and b rie f reports o f com m ittee activities, Prof. Karl- H einz Jügelt, Rostock (and P resid en t o f th e E ast G erm an Library Association), spoke on th e devel­ o p m en t o f libraries in th e G erm an D em ocratic R epublic (D D R ). I atte n d e d this session because while I am quite familiar w ith th e academ ic and research library m ilieu in th e F ed eral Republic (BRD), I have only a passing acquaintance with D D R libraries. Jügelt outlined th e situation as it has been, and spoke o f hopes for th e im m ediate future. W ith m uch ground to make up, he hopes to m od­ ernize by following th e m odels provided by lib rar­ ies in th e BRD. D uring th e discussion afterw ards, H. H avekost (O ldenburg) cautioned D D R colleagues against following th e m odels o f W est G erm any too closely, w ith its various online systems in d ifferent stages o f developm ent, not always com patible from state to state, and u rg ed a single, unified system for th e D D R th a t m ight b e in teg rated w ith w hichever V erbundssystem in th e BR D is m ost effective at th e point o f reunification. This doubtless n e e d e d to be said, and m any librarians o f my acquaintance who w ere th e re (or h eard about his rem arks) agreed w ith Havekost. B ut several also n o ted th a t th e B R D ’s “uneven progress” in th e developm ent o f library systems is a sensitive issue, and H avekost will no t b e th an k ed by all his listeners. T h e L o rd M ayor’s R eception in th e City Hall (Rathaus) was well attended, with refreshm ents to accom pany a welcom ing speech o f th e m ayor’s representative. L ibrarians’ Association re p resen ta­ tives reciprocated w ith words o f appreciation from H ans-Jürgen K uhlm eyer (on b e h a lf o f th e VdDB) and E n g elb ert Plassmann. M any participants th e n jo in ed o th e r librarians for m ore refreshm ents and socializing at a nearby cafe in th e Saint Johann m arketplace. T h e official o p e n in g was at 10:00 a.m . on W ednesday, Ju n e 6, at th e Civic C e n te r A udito­ rium . Plassm ann began th e cerem onies by outlin­ ing this year’s th em e, and th e im plications for all E u ro p ean libraries o f th e im pending m erg er o f th e two countries. H e n o ted th e p resen ce o f many librarians from o th e r E u ro p ean countries, some re p re se n te d for th e first tim e in m any years at a B ibliothekartag (including Czechoslovakia, H u n ­ gary, Rum ania, and Turkey) and “even a d ele­ gate— well known at th ese conferences— from th e U n ited States.” A lthough I did not h e a r o r read actual statistics, I estim ated from th e Index o f Participants, as well as from com m ents h eard at various activities, th a t at least 48 foreign librarians from at least 14 d ifferent countries w ere present. If you add th e “not less than 60” from th e G erm an D em ocratic R epublic (43 w ere students and fac­ ulty from th e Professional L ibrarians’ College at A lexander von H u m b o ld t University) you have a respectable n u m b e r indeed, one th a t testifies to th e generosity o f th e B R D librarians, library organiza­ tions, and governm ental agencies who c o n trib u ted funds tow ard th e expenses o f m any visitors. This was followed by a series o f short speeches o f w elcom e and appreciation by official re p re se n ta ­ tives o f th e Saarland State M inistry for Science and C ulture; th e Saarbrücken L ord M ayor’s Office; th e Saarland University P resid en t’s Office; th e P resi­ d e n t o f th e G erm an Association o f D ocum entalists (D G D ); th e P resid en t o f th e Saarland Society o f Publishers and Booksellers; and th e C h ie f C o n ser­ vator o f th e University o f Strasbourg Library (rep ­ resenting th e foreign library associations invited to attend). T h e keynote speaker was local folklorist and au th o r Ludwig Harig, whose “N irgendw o ist Babylon” (Babylon is N ow here) was w ell-received by an appreciative audience o f several h u n d re d listeners. In th e afternoon four public p resentations w ere scheduled sim ultaneously, two o f w hich I found to be o f considerable interest. T he first two speakers in th e program on E u ro p ean aspects o f acquisitions outlined th e p re se n t situation and th e practical steps th a t w ould be re q u ire d for a E u ro p ean Li­ brary C ooperative. A rianne Iljon (Com m ission o f th e E u ro p ean Com m unity, Brussels) n o ted th at th e aggregate en terp rise is huge: 1.2 billion vol­ um es in 75,000 libraries, em ploying 950,000 staff, and serving 7.4 million users; this will req u ire m uch coordination. T h e re is a pilot project underw ay to m ake national bibliographies available on C D - ROM , and Iljon o utlined som e o f th e problem s and req u irem en ts to create such a bibliographic data- November 1 9 9 0 1 983 base. Klaus-Dieter Lehm ann (D eutsche Biblio- theke, Frankfurt) spoke o f the critical need for uniformity and standardization o f data, as well as cooperation and harm ony betw een the many p ar­ ticipating libraries. R eim er Eck, G öttingen, spoke on international cooperation in cataloging, using examples from his own experiences at th e Lower Saxony State and University Library. A fter a discussion period, m o d erato r P e te r B orchardt (G erm an L ibrary In stitu te , Berlin) called for a break, and th e session resum ed with presentations by two foreign librarians on the sub­ je c t o f resp o n sib ilitie s o f su b je c t specialists (Fachreferenten) in th eir respective libraries. M. Menil (Ministry o f Education Library, Paris) ou t­ lined th e educational requirem ents o f F rench p ro ­ fessional librarians (two levels, as in W est G er­ many) and subsequent training leading to various kinds o f specialization, such as selection o f m ateri­ als in specific subjects or language areas. She also noted which tasks w ere assigned to the different levels, and how th e library adm inistration is organ­ ized. John H utchins (Norwich University) spoke o f the hard tim es currently en d u red by British univer­ sity libraries, and outlined th e administrative struc­ tu re and job titles that apply for various levels of education and training. H e noted that in G reat Britain, the system o f F achreferenten is much adm ired b u t not fully applied, since no library can afford a subject expert in every discipline taught at the university. So, like th e University of Massachu­ setts and elsewhere, F achreferenten m ust select materials in subjects outside th eir area o f expertise, and th eir responsibilities may include languages or geographic areas as well as (or instead of) academic subjects. In the discussion that followed, I noted th a t it was n o t only in E n g la n d w h e re th e F achreferenten had broader responsibilities, dic­ tated by practical rather than theoretical consid­ erations; moreover, w hen seeking F achreferenten for vacant positions I look for subject generalists rath er than subject experts, as th e latter te n d to be too narrow in th e ir interests. The oth er W ednesday afternoon sessions in­ cluded a mixed closed/public m eeting o f th e W ork­ ing G roup for Law Library and D ocum entation Practices, open presentations on R eference M ate­ rials and Services, and a closed m eeting o f the VdDB Commission on New Technologies. In addi­ tion, four successive hour-long presentations were made by data processing firms or agencies. In the evening a reception was held by Saarland Univer­ sity’s P resident’s office, also w ell-attended. T h u rsd ay m o rn in g was d ev o ted to general m em bership meetings o f th e VDB, VdDB, and BBA. At th e VDB m eeting, Plasśmann solicited contributions to assist guest colleagues from the east, and th e response was generous and enthusias­ tic. I spent the m orning among the exhibitors, w here I was able to discuss m utual problem s (and possible solutions) with a num ber o f publisher/ vendor representatives with whom th e University o f Massachusetts has done business. In addition to publishers, th ere w ere library jobbers, vendors of library furniture and supplies, and library sys­ tem s— a mixture pretty m uch as at ALA, b u t on a reduced scale. O n T hursday afternoon, seventeen sessions w ere scheduled, o f which several were closed, some partly closed and partly public, and others entirely open to th e public. In the last group, th ere w ere presentations on microforms in scholarly li­ braries; cooperation among E uropean Parliam en­ tary libraries; the “Sick Book” and its restoration; w om en in higher library service; online research w ith fro n t-en d systems; library education and training for academic librarians. I chose the p res­ entations on microforms, which included “Acquisi­ tion and Indexing o f Large Microform Collec­ tions,” by Ulrich M ontag (Bavarian State Library, Munich); “Aspects o f Protective Filming,” by W il­ helm Richard Schmidt (G erm an Library, F rank­ furt); “Bibliographic Control o f M aster M icro­ forms in E uropean Libraries,” by H ein er Sch­ nelling (University Library, Giessen); th e m odera­ to r was D ieter Stäglich (University Library, W up­ pertal). Each paper was followed by discussion, with greatest interest shown in protective filming, potential copyright problem s, coordination o f film­ ing activities, and the possibility o f centralization. As on W ednesday, th ere w ere also four after­ noon presentations in succession by vendors/pub- lishers. T he traditional “Festive Evening” was held in the M ensa (dining commons), with dinner, liq­ uid refreshm ents, dancing, and table-hopping, enjoyed by several hundred people. Friday m orning offered four programs: subject indexing; legal questions (e.g., copyright, deposi­ tory obligations, online services, etc.); E uropean F orum (outline o f services available, plus “Library Procedures at the University o f Leipzig” by B ernd Rüdiger, and a presentation by Axel Plathe, Paris, on “U N ESC O and International Library W ork”); “D atabank Systems for Institute [i.e., independent branch] Libraries,” based on experiences at H ei­ delberg (M onica M ünnich), M unich (G u n th er H eischm ann) and Tübingen (Klaus Teige). Also, as on previous days, th ree successive presentations w ere m ade by exhibitors, two on autom ated library systems, and one on bookbinding. The afternoon’s closing session was entitled “The Book Trade and Libraries in Europe: Expec­ tations within the Com m on M arket.” Elm ar M it­ tler (director o f libraries, University o f Heidelberg; now director at th e University o f Göttingen L ibrar­ ies) was m oderator. The panelists from the library world w ere H erm ann Josef Dörpinghaus (Univer­ 9 8 4 1 C & R L New s sity o f F reib u rg ), W illem R. H. Koops (U niversity o f G ro n in g e n ), a n d J o a c h im -F e lix L e o n h a rd (T übingen). R ep resen tin g th e book trade: Jürgen B ecker (G erm an P u b lish ers’ Association), P e te r P orhansl (S pringer Verlag), an d H e rm a n n -A rndt R ieth m ü ller (O siander Book Shop). M uch o f th e early discussion c e n te re d on questions o f price variations (e.g., a given book sought th ro u g h th e norm al tra d e sources in th re e d ifferen t countries is likely to b e o ffered at significantly d ifferen t prices at p resen t) an d th e q uestion o f possible stan d ard i­ zation w ithin th e E E C . T hough spirited, th e dis­ cu ssio n (on th e p o d iu m a n d fro m th e floor) reach e d no universally acceptable conclusions on this point. T h e c o n c lu d in g r e m a rk s by H a n s - J ü r g e n K uhlm eyer, VdDB P resid en t, signaled th e form al en d in g o f th e 80th B ibliothekartag, an d th e A u­ dimax (seating capacity approxim ately 800) slowly e m p tied . T h e re w ere still executive co m m ittee m eetings o f th e sponsoring organizations, evening en te rta in m e n ts, plus Saturday excursions for those able to participate. It was o n e o f th e m ost in te re s t­ ing o f th e se conferences th a t I have a tte n d e d in G erm any, b o th because o f th e p ap ers p re se n te d , and because o f th e unusually large n u m b e r o f “foreign” participants. A bout 1,800 p eo p le w ere registered, and th e re w ere at least a few w ho a t­ te n d e d informally, plus o th ers w hose nam es w ere left o u t o f th e P articip an ts’ Index (m any from th e host university, such as D ire c to r O tw in V inzent). T h e re will b e m any library pro b lem s to resolve in th e next few years, especially coordinating th e ac­ tivities o f a re u n ite d G erm an y w ithin th e E u ro p e a n C om m unity. O n e im m ed iate m a tte r relates to th e linking o f th e tw o n ational bibliographies, th e w e ste rn D eutsche B ibliographie (D B ) a n d th e easte rn D eutsche N ationalbibliographie (D N B ). F o r “good an d sufficient” political reasons, th e duplication o f effort has c o n tin u e d for 40-plus years, b u t soon will end. T h e staff o f th e DB (aided an d a b e tte d by c o m p u te r applications) n u m b ers ab o u t 250, w hereas th e less fo rtu n ate D N B r e ­ quires nearly tw ice as m any staff to p ro d u ce th e ir publication (and w ith o u t th e ancillary services DB can offer). I f each staff is to b e responsible for publications originating in its own geographic area (with th e D D R p ro d u cin g annually only a small fraction o f th e titles p ro d u c e d in th e B R D ), w hat is to b eco m e o f surplus p erso n n el at each installa­ tion? A nd how will D B an d D N B divide responsi­ bility for G erm an-language publications p ro d u c e d in o th e r countries: Austria, Sw itzerland, an d else­ w h e re ? I ’m sure th a t ap p ro p riate ag reem en ts will b e w orked o u t by th e two p a re n t institutions and th e ir respective staff organizations, b u t it will take a while. T h e p re se n c e o f an official ALA rep resen tativ e was n o te d publicly by P lassm ann on at least two occasions; th e se in tern atio n al efforts are widely appreciated. E ven this year, w h en th e focus was u n d erstan d ab ly on E u ro p e a n m atters, my rem arks d u rin g discussion periods an d in o th e r contexts w ere w elcom ed because G erm an librarians are truly in te re ste d in th e o utside w orld. A nd I a p p re ­ ciate th e o p p o rtu n ity to exchange views w ith my m any G erm an an d o th e r E u ro p e a n friends at th e B ibliothekartag, an d to m ake site visits b efo re and a fte r th e co n fe re n c e . B ib lio th ek artag locations have already b e e n chosen for 1991 (Kassel) and 1992 (B ochum ). O ptim ists are p red ic tin g a po s­ sible B ibliothekartag in th e east in 1993 (B erlin or Leipzig). It will b e m ost in terestin g to follow new developm ents. ■ ■ T1 he Index to Scientific Book Contents® is the only research tool that indexes scientific books at the individual chapter level. It covers more than 36,000 chapters from over 2,000 multi-authored books and book series, so your patrons can search the scientific book literature...without looking through all the books. They can search by author/editor name, book and chapter title words, general book category, author affiliation or author’s geographic location. Or they can turn straight to the complete listing of book contents to find the necessary bibliographic information. For more information or to receive a free quarterly sample issue, call toll-free: 800-336-4474, operator R351 (U.S. and Canada). Or write to one of the addresses below. ISBC. Count on it for searching scientific books. 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